A bone plate is a metal plate or strip with a plurality of screw receiving holes which is used to stabilize a bone, such as at a fracture site. In the case of mid-shaft fractures of long bones, a straight bone plate is applied across the fracture and secured to the bone with screws on each side. In fractures involving non-cylindrical portions of bones, such as at the ends of bones, a bone plate must be shaped to conform to the surface contour of the bone.
In the past, bone plates have been shaped using a tool known as a bending iron, such as shown in FIG. 1. A bending iron is an elongate tool with one or more slots formed at the ends. A plate to be bent is inserted into the slots of two irons and proper twisting of the irons shapes the plate to the desired form. Unfortunately, bending irons do not positively grip the plate. As a result, the plate may slip when the surgeon applies the bending force. Moreover, because the slot does not exactly fit the plate, the plate may rock in the slot. Therefore, it is not possible to use the axis of the bending iron to gauge the bending of the plate.
As described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,866,458 to Wagner, it has been proposed to provide a clamp to grip a bone plate to provide additional stability for bending. The clamp of Wagner, however, uses a handle screwed into a clamp body to actuate the clamp. As a result, when using the handle to bend the plate, it is easy to inadvertently loosen the clamp. Furthermore, Wagner utilizes a smooth, relatively small diameter handle, which reduces the user's ability to apply torque about the axis of the handle even if the handle did not loosen the clamp.